Nursing is an incredible, rewarding job. It requires a special kind of person who can devote their life to helping others feel better. It’s not easy, and it’s certainly not for the faint of heart.
It’s also so much easier when you have the right tools at your disposal. Whether it’s a journal app to record your patients’ needs or a calorie counter to keep you on track with your own nutrition, the right tools make a huge difference in how you do your job—and how you feel about what you do.
That’s why we’ve rounded up the top 10 best apps for nurses. Check them out!
Best Apps For Nursing
Over the years, nursing has been consistently polled as one of the most-trusted professions in the country.1 That confidence from patients and the public at large does not come by accident. Nurses are trained to comfort, care and show compassion to their patients even in the most trying times.
With such dedication to patient safety and well-being, it’s not surprising that there are several uses for mobile applications. There are plenty of apps out there to help nurses study for exams, stay organized amidst the chaos, keep them in-the-know about medical knowledge and terminology and even help create and establish patient care plans. Nursing apps can help improve efficiency and enhance the experience for the patients.
We surveyed the market and rounded up a list of 12 of the best nursing apps to cover all of your organizational, educational and patient care needs.
12 Useful nursing apps worth checking out
- Human Anatomy Atlas
The Human Anatomy Atlas app is both beautiful and useful, as it’s packed with thousands of three-dimensional images of human anatomy and structure. This app can be a great addition for anyone learning about human anatomy as built-in quizzes will help you test your knowledge of the bones, muscles and biological systems found in the human body. - NCLEX RN Mastery
Nursing students should be well-aware of the importance of passing the NCLEX-RN® licensure exam. The NCLEX RN Mastery app offers a wealth of useful features for keeping up on your studies, including practice questions, mnemonics, terminology and quizzes. Certainly a helpful addition for anyone looking to supplement their study routine. - Medscape®
The Medscape app is a versatile addition to any healthcare provider’s device. This app offers a curation of the latest medical news, medical calculators, prescription information and safety resources—an all-around useful collection of features and information at your fingertips. - Epocrates®
While perhaps geared more toward physicians, this medical app still packs a punch. One particularly handy feature is the ability to check for potential adverse interactions between medications, herbs and supplements. - Pill Identifier by Drugs.com
The unknown and medication don’t mix well. This pill identification app connects you to a database of over 14,000 prescription and over the counter medications. This includes the ability to search by color, shape, imprint and drug name. - Google Translate™
Treating a patient can be challenging enough when speaking the same language—and contending with a language barrier certainly doesn’t make things any easier. Fortunately, the Google Translate app can help you break down some of those barriers. While it may not perfectly translate every quirk and nuance found in each language, it can provide a much better base of understanding. - Nurse’s Pocket Guide
The Nurse’s Pocket Guide app is a great resource for making nursing diagnoses and developing appropriate patient care plans. With over 440 medical conditions documented, this app allows you to search for key patient symptoms and the conditions commonly associated with them. - NurseGrid®
This specific nursing scheduling app can allow you to see your work schedule at more than one job, see your work friend’s calendars and see who you’ll be working with quickly and easily. This will allow you to facilitate trades and make your schedule work for you. - Pedi-Stat
The Pedi-Stat app is an excellent addition for any nurse who works with pediatric patients. This app helps with one of the more challenging aspects of working in pediatrics—adjusting the dosages and equipment used to fit the size of the patient. - Keener®
While most of the apps featured in this list center on caring for patients, the Keener app is designed with caring for nurses in mind. This app can be an excellent self-care tool, with nursing stories, inspiration and a shift-reflection journaling feature that will help you put daily work stressors in perspective. - Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN Examination
This NCLEX prep app has practically everything you could need for NCLEX success. This includes over 6,000 practice questions, quiz creation, test-taking strategies, flash cards and detailed rationales. This app can be a boon for anyone putting in significant NCLEX study time. - Picmonic® Nursing
Roy G. Biv. Every good boy deserves fudge. Mnemonic devices like these are a proven way to help recall information. The Picmonic Nursing app provides a wealth of visual mnemonic aides designed to help nurses retain critical information about common nursing subjects like anatomy, biological systems and dosage calculations.
Move forward confidently
No matter what stage you’re in during your nursing career, mobile apps can provide a great way for you to stay on task and keep information at your fingertips. If you’re looking for more helpful resources for nursing students, we’ve got you covered. Our article, “9 Nursing Student Resources to Help Keep You on Track” highlights several great options that go beyond your mobile device.
Of course, learning doesn’t stop for nurses as soon as they’re done with school. It obviously plays a big role in your ability to grow in your career as well. If you’re looking for ways to expand your nursing expertise, check out “Nursing Career Advancement: 8 Ways to Stand Out in Your Scrubs.”
1“Honesty / Ethics in Professions” Gallup [accessed September 2021] https://news.gallup.com/poll/1654/honesty-ethics-professions.aspx
Epocrates is a registered trademark of Epocrates, Inc.
Keener is a registered trademark of HealthStream, Inc.
Medscape is a registered trademark of WebMD LLC.
NurseGrid is a registered trademark of HcT2 Co.
Picmonic is a registered trademark of Picmonic, Inc.
NCLEX-RN is a registered trademark of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc.
best free apps for nursing students
Getting through a nursing program as a student is incredibly challenging. While having a good memory and study habits is essential to excelling as a nurse in a school program, some great desktop and mobile apps can help you organize your notes, communicate with peers, and get ahead of your studies.
The problem that most nursing students run into with their app selection is cutting through the noise to find the apps that streamline studying instead of just adding another app to the workflows. We’ve done all the research to find the best apps for nursing students as well as the best apps for family nurse practitioner students. Keep reading to see our entire list of apps.
- Spike (Free with paid options)
181121_Media_kit_photos43-1
•
Operating Systems Supported:
Mac, PC, iOS, Android, Web
•
Best for:
Organizing Notes, Sharing Files, Group Projects, Email
Spike is one of the best apps that nursing students can download to organize their study process. Spike is best known for turning email into a chat-like messenger interface, but it adds an entire productivity layer on top of it. Spike includes all the essential tools needed to help nursing students keep on top of their studies.
Spike’s email functionality handles all the essential communication methods students need to communicate with their peers and professors. It allows students to find anything they need with its super search capabilities and create Spike Groups to streamline group projects.
On top of email, Spike builds an entire productivity layer that is vital to the success of students in a nursing program. Using online collaborative Notes, nursing students can share class notes, PDFs, images, and more. Notes automatically sync to all instances of Spike, so they’re available on desktop and mobile devices, meaning you’ll never lose data due to a broken or lost device.
Spike also includes built-in video meetings, so if your group needs to do a virtual study session, everyone can join without downloading a new app or creating an account. All Spike Video Meetings can be joined by just a web browser. It truly becomes a complete digital study space by combining email, calendar, notes, file sharing, and video meetings into a single app.
- Eponyms (Free)
Eponyms
•
Operating Systems Supported:
Mac, iOS, Android
•
Best For:
Quick medical term lookup on the go
If you’re in a nursing program, you know there are thousands of terms you are expected to learn, memorize, and be able to recall. Eponyms is a free application that is essential for your collection of nursing program apps. It’ll allow you to study quickly when waiting in line at the grocery store so you can start to memorize all of your essential terms.
Key features include 1800 terms, full-text search, 26 categories, ability to star items and show your recently accessed items. All nursing students should have this app on their smartphone home screen.
- Med Mnemonics ($1.99)
Med_Mnemonics
•
Operating Systems Supported:
iOS
•
Best For:
Memorization tricks
Med Mnemonics contains nearly 2,000 rhymes, tricks, and acronyms to help you recall and retain information for your nursing program. This iPhone and iPad app allows full customization to make the app work for you.
The app contains the ability to edit, delete, and add your own words. This customizable capability makes Med Mnemonics an essential app for nursing program students.
- Nursing Dictionary (Free with $1.99 in-app purchase to remove ads)
Nursing_Dictionary
•
Operating Systems Supported:
Android and iOS
•
Best For:
Having a complete nursing app dictionary on the go
Nursing Dictionary by Farlex is a key app for nursing students to download. The app contains 56,000 medical terms, 4,000 entries on medications, and 9,000 images. It pulls from a variety of reliable sources to search and research treatment information wherever you are.
Since this app is a complete dictionary, it’s also a useful tool for nurses to use after they’ve completed their nursing programs to research treatment options.
- Nursing Central (Free with various in-app purchase unlocks)
Nursing_Central
•
Operating Systems Supported:
Android and iOS
•
Best For:
Medical research
For the nursing apps, Nursing Central offers a number of beneficial tools for students regardless wherein the nursing program they are currently at. It’s great for students and nurses alike. The app includes a wealth of research on medicine, note-taking ability, cross-linking, and more.
It pulls together information from multiple databases to make it a clear winner when it comes to finding the best nursings apps.
- Medscape (Free)
Medscape
•
Operating Systems Supported:
Android and iOS
•
Best For:
Quick answers to questions
Medscape is beneficial for nursing students to get the latest medical news and expert commentary on various medical aspects, drug and disease information, relevant professional education, and CME/CE activities.
For staying up to date with what’s happening in the medical industry, Medscape offers a free way to get the latest news and treatment updates.
- Nursing Drug Handbook (Free with optional subscription)
Nursing_Drug_Handbook_
Operating Systems Supported:
Android and iOS
Best For:
Accessing medication information on the go
Nursing Drug Handbook lets you locate complete monographs on over 3,500 generic and brand-name drugs. In addition, the app 49 new drugs approved by the FDA in the past year—along with essential details on each drug’s use case, its benefits, and side effects.
- Merck Manual Professional (Free)
Merck
•
Operating Systems Supported:
Android and iOS
•
Best For:
Having clinical calculators on a mobile device
The Merck Manual Professional is a very useful medical reference app and provides nurse practitioners and nursing students with clear, practical explanations for thousands of conditions in all major medical and surgical specialties. The app is continually updated with many new features and enhancements. The app covers etiology, pathophysiology, and options for evaluation and treatment.
- Pedi-STAT ($4.99)
Pedi_Stat
•
Operating Systems Supported:
iOS and Android
•
Best For:
Fast information on cardiac events in pediatrics
Pedi-STAT is a great rapid reference for nurses, paramedics, physicians, and other healthcare professionals caring for pediatric patients in an emergency or critical care environment. In addition, nursing students will find it to be a helpful reference tool in their clinical labs.
Summary of Best Nursing Apps
As nursing students seek to streamline their studying environments, we hope these apps will assist in leveraging the best of technology to help them learn how to better care for their patients.
Finding the best apps can be challenging for nursing programs, so always look to ensure it’s frequently updated in the Google Play and iOS App Stores.
Conclusion
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Check out other publications to gain access to more digital resources if you are just starting out with Flux Resource.
Also contact us today to optimize your business(s)/Brand(s) for Search Engines